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MPs' pay: Watchdog to back pay rise of more than £6,000 MPs' pay: Watchdog calls for rise of more than £6,000
(about 11 hours later)
The MPs' expenses watchdog will recommend a pay rise for MPs to £74,000 but will say there should be cuts to other allowances, the BBC has learned. MPs' pay should be increased by £6,000 to £74,000 a year from 2015, the Commons expenses watchdog has said.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson says the body will back a rise for after the 2015 election but will recommend a less generous pension scheme. But the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) also recommends cuts to perks such as meal allowances and taxis and a less generous pension scheme.
There could also be cuts to meal allowances and taxi claims. And "golden goodbyes" paid to retiring MPs could also be trimmed.
The proposals, to be unveiled on Thursday, will go to consultation before being finalised later this year. But some MPs say such a pay rise would be out of step with pay elsewhere and could damage Parliament's reputation.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who like PM David Cameron has said he will not take the increase, said it was "about the worst time to advocate a double digit pay increase for MPs".
Speaking on London radio station LBC 97.3, Mr Clegg said "everyone has to be treated as fairly and equal in the public sector" and the public would find the proposed salary increase "incomprehensible".
The Ipsa proposals include:
Ipsa chairman Sir Ian Kennedy said: "The history of MPs' pay and pensions is a catalogue of fixes, fudges and failures to act. The package we put forward today represents the end of the era of MPs' remuneration being settled by MPs themselves.
"For the first time, an independent body will decide what MPs should receive. We will do so in full view, and after consultation with the public."
'Totally wrong'
Sir Ian told BBC Radio 5 Live MPs should be treated like "modern professionals" and part of the package was a "radical proposal" to introduce an annual "report card" to show the public what MPs did for their money.
He said the pay rise proposal was "fair" because MPs' pay had "fallen back" over the years and they needed to properly rewarded for the job they did.
He said there was never a good time to increase MPs' pay, but said the changes were designed to "last a generation rather than just respond to the latest political issue", and taken together with the expenses reforms would save taxpayers money.
"When you look at the package as a whole it is fair to the taxpayer and fair to MPs," he said.
MPs used to decide their own pay but it was handed to Ipsa, an independent body, in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal.
MPs are currently paid £66,396, but that is due to rise to £67,060 in April 2014 and rise by a further 1% the following year.MPs are currently paid £66,396, but that is due to rise to £67,060 in April 2014 and rise by a further 1% the following year.
The recommendation amounts to a rise of around £6,300 a year, or 9.3%, on what MPs would be getting in 2015.The recommendation amounts to a rise of around £6,300 a year, or 9.3%, on what MPs would be getting in 2015.
'Unthinkable' Some MPs have attacked the proposals, saying Ipsa should have taken greater account of the state of the wider economy and the pay freeze across the public and private sector.
The proposals will also mean lower "golden goodbyes" for departing MPs, the BBC has learned. It has been reported that MPs' current final salary pension scheme will be downgraded to a career average system.
"Resettlement grants" paid under the old expenses scheme were worth up to £64,766 for long-serving MPs still of a working age, the first £30,000 of which was tax-free. And the £15 allowance MPs are allowed to claim for dinner when they are required to stay in the Commons after 19:30 will be scrapped.
They are not expected to be brought back for the 2015 election. Margaret Hodge, Labour chairwoman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, said it was "inappropriate at a time when every public sector worker is being asked to take a 1% rise" that MPs should be out of line.
But Nick Robinson said he understood that the money saved would not fully offset the increase in MPs' salaries. Labour MP John Mann said: "It really gives us all a bad reputation, a bad name. It's been bad enough after the expenses scandal and, frankly, if this was to go through it would be catastrophic for the reputation of Parliament."
On pensions - it has been reported that MPs' current final salary pension scheme will be downgraded to a career average system. He said MPs needed "to be in the real world" and Ipsa had got its calculations "totally wrong".
And the £15 allowance MPs are allowed to claim for dinner when they are required to stay in the Commons after 7.30pm will be scrapped. "Why should we be compared with doctors? Why not compare us with cleaners?" he told the BBC News Channel, adding that current MPs' pay was "perfectly reasonable" and "we should not get more than the rest of the country".
Leading politicians have already spoken out against a pay rise for MPs, at a time when there is a pay freeze elsewhere in the public sector. David Cameron has said such a rise would be "unthinkable" and Nick Clegg said he would not take one. MPs will not get a vote on the pay decision but Mr Mann said he hoped to force one in the Commons before the next election in 2015, which Ipsa could not ignore.
But Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) chairman Sir Ian Kennedy has warned them not to interfere, as putting off difficult decisions was what lay behind the 2009 expenses crisis.
A senior Labour source said: "Our view is clear that any decision about MPs' pay must reflect wider economic circumstances and what is happening in the rest of the public sector.A senior Labour source said: "Our view is clear that any decision about MPs' pay must reflect wider economic circumstances and what is happening in the rest of the public sector.
"It must be consistent with what is happening to nurses, teachers and others in the public sector as well as conditions in the private sector.""It must be consistent with what is happening to nurses, teachers and others in the public sector as well as conditions in the private sector."
In a blog for the Spectator website, Conservative MP Conor Burns questioned whether the timing of the pay rise represented "errant genius or malice" on Ipsa's part. Pay freeze
"Leaving aside for a moment whether it is warranted, what exactly would this be saying to the public?" he wrote.
"Can we seriously on the one hand say that we need public sector pay restraint (the private sector is largely self-frozen), that we must all make sacrifices to repair the economy and reduce the deficit if at the same time we accept a large increase to our basic pay?"
He argued that the pay rise would be "more than offset by a change to the pension arrangements".
"So we are asked to accept a headline pay increase that most members of the public would find eye watering and an overall package that would be worse than now."
Margaret Hodge, Labour chairwoman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, said it was "inappropriate at a time when every public sector worker is being asked to take a 1% rise" that MPs should be out of line.
"This is an incredibly difficult decision to take. When we tried to take it ourselves we got it wrong. We then give it to an outside body - it doesn't look like they have got it right," she told the BBC's Newsnight programme.
Thursday's recommendations are also expected to include a formula to determine how MPs' pay will rise in future.
In a speech last week, Sir Ian said the watchdog had been "impressed by the idea that MPs' pay should move in line with the fortunes of those they represent, such that MPs' pay would be indexed to movements in national average earnings. If the average wage goes up, MPs' pay would go up. If the average wage falls, MPs' pay would fall."In a speech last week, Sir Ian said the watchdog had been "impressed by the idea that MPs' pay should move in line with the fortunes of those they represent, such that MPs' pay would be indexed to movements in national average earnings. If the average wage goes up, MPs' pay would go up. If the average wage falls, MPs' pay would fall."
MPs used to vote on their own pay but from 2008, recommended pay rises were made by the Senior Salaries Review Body which were supposed to take place automatically.MPs used to vote on their own pay but from 2008, recommended pay rises were made by the Senior Salaries Review Body which were supposed to take place automatically.
However its recommendation for a 1% rise in 2011-12 was voted down by MPs, at the instigation of the government, because of a two-year pay freeze imposed on the public sector.However its recommendation for a 1% rise in 2011-12 was voted down by MPs, at the instigation of the government, because of a two-year pay freeze imposed on the public sector.
In May 2011, powers to set and administer MPs' salaries passed to Ipsa, which went on to freeze MPs' pay for 2012-13.In May 2011, powers to set and administer MPs' salaries passed to Ipsa, which went on to freeze MPs' pay for 2012-13.
MPs and members of the public will be able to take part in a consultation before Ipsa publishes its final plans - expected in the autumn - which would then come into force without the need for further legislation.MPs and members of the public will be able to take part in a consultation before Ipsa publishes its final plans - expected in the autumn - which would then come into force without the need for further legislation.